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Pac-12 notes: Football assistants not getting fair deal

By Kyle Ringo Buffzone.com

Posted:
11/13/2012 10:43:34 PM MST

Updated:
11/13/2012 10:44:02 PM MST

I 'm not one who believes our elected officials at the statehouse in Denver should be spending much time concerned with college athletics, but they sure fumbled away an opportunity to help athletic programs at Colorado colleges and universities this year.

You might have heard the legislature passed a law in its last session - House Bill 1144 - allowing institutions of higher learning to award multi-year contracts of up to three years to non-tenure-track faculty members who teach at least 50 percent toward what is considered full time.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's a great move that should help area schools attract and retain great professors and that's good news for students now and in the future.

The law does not change anything when it comes to the restrictions on state colleges offering no more than six multi-year contracts to all other employees of the institution.

Athletic departments at area colleges and universities such as Colorado and Colorado State have been fighting for years with one hand tied behind their backs to attract the best assistant coaches in the nation. They aren't able to offer more than at-will employment to most assistant coaches because the six multi-year deals are generally dedicated to head coaches, athletic directors, chancellors and presidents.

CU offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is the only assistant coach at the school on a multi-year deal.

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Don't think it's a problem?

Ask Bill McCartney, Rick Neuheisel, Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins or Jon Embree. Just look at Colorado's long history of turnover among assistant coaches in football in particular. This past offseason was only the second time since the late 1980s the entire football coaching staff at CU returned from the previous season.

Offering multi-year deals to assistants in football is standard practice around the country at least at the BCS level. Not being able to do so is a competitive disadvantage.

You should have seen Embree's face light up earlier this year when I told him about the change to the law, and then seen his face change when I told him it didn't apply to coaches.

Poor guy.

Now I know the look officials get from Embree when they call back a CU touchdown with a holding penalty.

CU officials are happy to have won some middle ground that helps them hire and retain better educator. Good for them on that score.

But if they didn't lobby for the ability to give the same deals to assistant coaches or if they simply didn't think it was important enough to try, I think most CU fans would react to that news this way.

Booooooooooooo.

A name to consider

I'm assuming Embree is going to make some changes to his coaching staff after the season and considering how things have gone defensively during his first two seasons at the helm, it's probably a safe bet CU will be in the market for a new defensive coordinator.

Count me as a big fan of current defensive coordinator Greg Brown. He's a straight shooter, a stand-up guy and a good man. But the results on the field speak for themselves at this point.

So who might Embree turn to as his next defensive coordinator?

My guess is Embree will at least put in a call to Chuck Heater, the current defensive coordinator at Temple.

Heater is well-traveled including a five-year stay in Boulder when he worked alongside Embree under McCartney and Neuheisel during the 1990s when CU was an elite program. Heater has three national championship rings and more than 35 years coaching experience. He most recently won national titles working at Florida under Urban Meyer 2005-2010.

Not so happy anniversary

Remember when the Colorado football program used to be a fixture in the national polls. Yeah, it's getting way back there in the rearview mirror at this point.

The Buffs were in and out of the national polls periodically under former coach Gary Barnett and this week is the seven-year anniversary of the last time CU was ranked in any college football poll.

The Buffs were No. 22 in the Associated Press poll heading to Iowa State with a 7-2 record this week in 2005. They lost three straight, including the epic 70-3 beat down in the Big 12 Championship game and Barnett was fired.

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story